Ninja Forms PDF Form Submission Addon 3.2.1

The **Ninja Forms PDF Form Submission** addon is a premium tool that allows you to automatically generate, email, and export PDFs of your form entries. It is particularly useful for creating professional invoices, receipts, or summary documents that can be sent to both administrators and users. 

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### 🚀 Key Features 

The addon integrates directly into the Ninja Forms builder, adding new capabilities to your standard email actions. 

* **Automatic Email Attachments:** You can toggle a switch to attach a generated PDF to any email notification. 
* **Manual Export:** In your WordPress dashboard, you can hover over any submission and click "Export to PDF" for an instant download. 
* **Custom Document Body:** Use the built-in rich text editor to design the layout of the PDF, including headers, footers, and images. 
* **Field Mapping:** Use **merge tags** (e.g., `{field:first_name}`) to pull user-submitted data directly into the PDF document. 
* **PHP mbstring Support:** Note that your server must have the `mbstring` extension enabled to process the PDF generation correctly. 

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### 🛠 How to Set It Up 

Once the addon is installed, follow these steps to start generating PDFs: 

1. **Activate the Addon:** Go to **Ninja Forms > Add-ons** and ensure it is active. 
2. **Edit Your Form:** Navigate to the **Emails & Actions** tab. 
3. **Enable Attachment:** Click on an existing email action (like "Admin Email"). Under **Advanced settings**, toggle the **Attach PDF** switch to green. 
4. **Customize the PDF:** Go to the **Advanced** tab of your form builder. Look for the **PDF Form Submission** section to define your: 
* **Document Title & Filename:** You can use merge tags to make the filename unique (e.g., `Invoice-[your-name]`). 
* **Header/Footer:** Add company logos or page numbers. 
* **Document Body:** Format how the fields should appear. If left blank, the PDF will default to a simple table of all submitted values. 



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### ⚖️ Comparison: Ninja Forms vs. Alternatives (2026) 

In 2026, many users compare Ninja Forms' "buy only what you need" model against all-in-one solutions. 

| Feature | **Ninja Forms PDF Addon** | **Fluent Forms (Pro)** | **Gravity PDF** | 
| --- | --- | --- | --- | 
| **Price** | ~$29–$129 (Addon only) | Included in Pro (~$59/yr) | Free (for basic templates) | 
| **Ease of Use** | High (Integrated) | High (Native feature) | Medium (Separate setup) | 
| **Customization** | Rich Text Editor | CSS & HTML | Full Template Engine (PHP) | 
| **Best For** | Current Ninja Forms users | Users wanting a fixed annual cost | Developers needing complex layouts | 

### 💡 Pro Tip: Embedding Images 

If your form includes a **File Upload** field and you want that image to appear *inside* the PDF (rather than just a link), use the specialized merge tag: `{field:file_upload_ID:pdf_embed}`. 

Would you like me to show you how to set up **conditional logic** so that a PDF is only generated and sent if the user selects a specific option, like "Request a Receipt"? 

[How to setup the Ninja Forms PDF Addon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eazHQZCGSO0) 
This video provides a complete walkthrough for installing and configuring the Ninja Forms PDF Form Submission addon on your WordPress site.